New Year, Newcastle: 10 Signings, Resolutions That Will Revitalize the Magpies

2012 has a been a year of typical ups and downs on the Newcastle United roller-coaster, with Geordie fans and the wider football public glued to their seats wondering what will happen next.

Peaks include Mike Ashley stunning the football world with the £9M acquisition of PapissCisse back in January, Newcastle’s subsequent ascent to a fifth-place finish and qualification for the last 32 of the Europa League.

Lows include not quite capitalizing on this "surprise" success by bolstering the squad in preparation for involvement in two major competitions, which has proved a steep learning curve for Alan Pardew, as his side have slumped to 15th in the Premier League.

Everyone has a fresh start at the turn of the year, however, and football clubs are no different. When the January transfer window opens, Newcastle’s wheeling and dealing will be the difference between silverware-lining their poor League start or a season of deep regrets for The Magpies.

This is what they must do to ensure a fairytale ending for the faithful Geordie nation.

2. Strengthen the Squad Every Transfer Window

That Newcastle have gone from the brink of the top four to just above the bottom four in the Premier League, and that has largely been attributed to a lack of new signings in the summer.

Coupled with solid pros Danny Guthrie, Leon Best and Fraser Forster leaving, this left Newcastle thin on the ground in terms of squad numbers while the Europa League campaign took its toll.

After finishing fifth, the expectation was that Newcastle would continue their momentum with a raft of new signings. Yet like the last time they finished fourth under Sir Bobby Robson when they only signed Lee Bowyer, having qualified for The CL in 2004, this didn't happen, and Newcastle had a poor start again.

It's imperative in the modern game that the squad is added to and freshened up with new faces every chance the club gets, and Newcastle must learn this lesson.

Having only three senior centre-halves proved Newcastle’s Achilles heel last Winter and has proven so again already this season with two games a week, meaning fresh centre-halves have been a luxury for The Magpies.

Steven Taylor is sidelined until the New Year, and Coloccini has faced suspension and struggled with form since being recalled to the Argentinian national squad.

Douglas would offer direct competition to the existing defenders, as Newcastle look to compete on three front, EPL, Europa League and FA Cup in 2012, and represents the goal-scoring centre-half Alan Pardew earmarked in the summer.

7. Rotation, Rotation, Rotation

Teams competing in Europe, and especially those with international players in the side, must rest and rotate those key players or suffer the adverse affects of over-football.

Yohan Cabaye is the prime example this season. After a grueling first Premier League season, he then played the majority of France’s games at The Euros, plus friendlies and qualifiers.

Instead of the much-needed rest his body needed, he was thrown back into the EPL, Europa League and international deep end, although clearly struggling.

Likewise, Coloccini, whose call-up to the Argentina squad meant he suffered exhaustion, which manifested in injuries and suspensions due to travel and extra games on the domestic, European and international front, has only lately recovered form.

Extra quality signings would alleviate the need of over-reliance on star players.

With compatriots Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse already on Tyneside, a Newcastle side preparing a major tilt at winning The Europa League would be an attractive destination for the 25-year-old Senegalese man in 2013.